Top judge: $309M annual costs of Pa. courts is lean'

HARRISBURG — In Pennsylvania, the judicial system isn’t much different than the other two branches of government when it comes to worrying about money.

A 2013 State of the Commonwealth’s Courts report released last week shows the court system is working to cut its costs as it prepares for a slight decrease in funding next year.

“At one-half-of-one percent of the state budget, the judiciary’s lean budget has never had deep pockets for easy savings,” Supreme Court Chief Justice Ron Castille said in the report.

Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed budget for the 2013-2014 year provides $308.1 million for the judiciary, down from $309.2 million this year, as the court requests $324 million.

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The report shows a few areas in which the judiciary has saved to counter the effects of a stagnant budget.

The court system saved $10 million over three years by freezing interim judicial appointments in the event of a vacancy. Instead, the court uses senior judges, those who have left full-time duty, to fill in until the judge is elected. In 2012, senior judges worked 962 days without compensation, according to the report.

The judiciary also trimmed $4.5 million by eliminating 30 magisterial district judge seats.

The report also notes savings stemming from specialized “problem-solving courts,” like drug, mental illness, driving under the influence and veterans courts. Such systems are tailored to reduce recidivism and provide intensive treatment, but they also can save tax dollars – drug courts save more than $3 for every $1 spent, according to the report.

Lynn Marks, executive director for statewide court reform organization Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, said these strategic savings make sense.

“We support the Supreme Court’s freezing of vacancies until they are replaced by election, yet hope that a president judge can try to make a case that there will be a drastic impact without one,” Marks said in a statement.

Beyond the cost of running the judiciary system, the report also addresses what change the court system has made in reaction to the “kids for cash” scandal in Luzerne County. Two judges, President Judge Mark Ciavarella and Senior Judge Michael Conahan, were convicted of accepting money from a for-profit juvenile detention center builder in exchange for imposing sentences that would fill the facilities with juveniles.

Since then, the court system has implemented 57 rule changes, and expunged the criminal records of 2,401 juveniles who appeared before the two judges charged in the scandal.

The report does not mention by name former Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin, who was sentenced on corruption charges this week. But it does note that “actions of a few can taint the many.”

“It is a sad day when a judge is accused of wrong doing and even sadder still when those misdeeds are affirmed within the very system to which the judge has sworn fidelity … Pennsylvania’s more than 1,000 judges are ‘right-minded’ men and women dedicated to service. But the actions of a few can taint the many,” Castille wrote.